Berjak Law is a law firm in downtown Edmonton with lawyers and staff who speak Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, in addition to English. If you are looking for a Spanish-speaking real estate lawyer in Edmonton, or a lawyer who speaks Portuguese or Arabic, you can go through your entire transaction in that language — from the first phone call to the signing appointment.
Our office is at 10080 Jasper Avenue, Suite 301. Flat-fee residential closings start at $699 plus disbursements and GST.
There is a moment in every real estate closing where someone slides a stack of documents across a table and asks you to sign them. A mortgage instrument. A transfer of land. A statement of adjustments with numbers you have not seen before.
Most people find that moment uncomfortable in their first language. Doing it in a second one is harder — not because of fluency in conversation, but because legal and financial terminology is its own vocabulary. Plenty of people who work, study and raise families comfortably in English have never had a reason to learn what an estoppel certificate is or how a prepayment penalty is calculated.
Berjak Law provides real estate legal services in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.
What That Actually Means
Not simply that someone in the office speaks the language. It means you can go through the transaction in it:
- The first phone call, when you are still deciding whether to retain us and want to ask what something costs
- Questions during the process, when your lender asks for a document and you are not sure what they mean
- The signing appointment, where every document is explained before you sign it — what it does, what it commits you to, and what happens if something goes wrong
- Anything that comes up after possession, when you have a question about your title or your mortgage
If there is a document you want walked through line by line, that is the point of the appointment.
Why This Matters More in Real Estate Than in Most Legal Work
A real estate closing has an unusual property: it is a high-stakes transaction that most people go through only a handful of times in their lives, involving documents almost nobody encounters otherwise.
Some of what you will be asked to understand:
The statement of adjustments. A financial reconciliation between you and the seller — property taxes apportioned to the possession date, condo fees, anything prepaid. It produces the final number you bring to closing, and it is not intuitive.
Mortgage instructions. Conditions your lender requires before releasing funds. These vary between lenders and are written for lawyers, not for borrowers.
Dower consent. If you are married and the property is registered in one spouse’s name, Alberta’s Dower Act requires the non-titled spouse to consent before a sale or mortgage — signed before an independent lawyer. This surprises people regularly, and it needs to be understood rather than simply signed.
Condo documents. For a condo purchase, a package including reserve fund studies, financial statements, bylaws and meeting minutes. The reserve fund study in particular determines whether you may face a special levy after you take ownership.
Title and the Real Property Report. What is registered against the property, and whether the structures on it comply with municipal requirements.
None of this is unusually difficult. But it is unfamiliar, and nobody should sign a document they do not fully understand because asking felt like an imposition.
Edmonton Is Not an English-Only City
Edmonton’s growth over the past decade has come substantially from newcomers — from Latin America, from Brazil and Portugal, from across the Arabic-speaking world, and from many other places. A significant share of the buyers in the neighbourhoods we work in every week are people who arrived in Canada as adults.
Those buyers deal with a mortgage broker, a realtor, a lender, an insurer and a lawyer, often within the span of a few weeks. Being able to have at least one of those conversations without translating in your head is not a small thing.
It Is the Same Commitment, Extended
If you read our reviews, the theme that comes up most often is not speed or price. It is that things get explained clearly.
“He took the time to explain my situation and how the notarization process works so I actually understood what was being done.”
“He explained the documents, timelines, and legal steps in plain language, which helped us feel comfortable and confident moving forward.”
“They take the time to explain things in a way that is easy to understand, which made the whole process much less stressful.”
Offering service in four languages is the same commitment applied further. Plain language is not much use if it is not a language you think in.
What We Handle
- Residential purchases — detached homes, condominiums, infill and new construction
- Residential sales
- Mortgage refinancing, renewals and lender switches
- Title transfers, including adding or removing someone from title
- Notarization and Commissioner for Oaths services
Flat-fee residential closings start at $699 plus disbursements and GST.
Beyond Real Estate
Most of this article is about property transactions, because that is where the terminology problem is sharpest. But the firm’s language capability is not limited to real estate files — if you are searching for a law office that speaks Spanish, or a lawyer in Edmonton who speaks Portuguese or Arabic, it is worth calling to ask about your matter regardless of what it involves.
Common Questions
Do you have a Spanish-speaking real estate lawyer in Edmonton? Yes. Berjak Law provides real estate legal services in Spanish, including the initial consultation, document review, and the signing appointment.
Is there a lawyer in Edmonton who speaks Portuguese? Yes. We handle real estate transactions in Portuguese, from the first call through to closing.
Do you offer legal services in Arabic? Yes. Arabic-language service is available for real estate transactions and other matters.
Does it cost more to be served in another language? No. Flat-fee residential closings start at $699 plus disbursements and GST regardless of the language your file is handled in.
If You Would Prefer to Deal With Us in Spanish, Portuguese or Arabic
Just say so when you call. There is no separate line to ring and no form to fill in first — mention it and we will arrange the file accordingly, including for your signing appointment.
780-879-0200 10080 Jasper Avenue, Suite 301, Edmonton
Berjak Law was founded by Khalid and Ahmad Berjak, both graduates of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law. Contact us to discuss your transaction.
